News

Carl Barat and The Jackals

02/06/2017
Company

Carl Barat and The Jackals released their latest EP last week ‘Harder They Fall’ to rave reviews and are currently on tour in support of the EP. The tour sees the band play ten dates across the UK including Camden Rocks festival this weekend. Both Carl and guitarist Billy Tessio are using an Artisan 30, HT Club 40 VP and a S1-412. The band will be back out on tour throughout the year including appearances at Glastonbury and Beyond the Tracks Festival. For more information visit https://www.carlbaratandthejackals.com

Wednesday 13 European Tour 2017

01/06/2017
Artist

Wednesday 13 is releasing his seventh studio album, ‘Condolences’ on June 2nd and will be touring Europe to support the new album. The tour kicks off in Germany this Sunday and will be culminating at Download Festival on the 10th of June. Guitarist Jack Tankersley will be using a Series One stack as always. For more information on the tour and the new album visit http://officialwednesday13.com

Ministry European Tour 2017

25/05/2017
Artist

Ministry will be kicking off their European tour next week. The godfathers of industrial music have been a major influence on countless bands and are still going strong after being formed way back in 1981 by founding member Al Jourgensen. They will be playing sixteen dates across Europe including appearances at Download Festival in both the UK and Spain. Both guitarist Al Jourgensen and Sin Quirin will be using Series One stacks. For more information on the band and the tour visit http://ministryband.com

Camden Rocks 2017

25/05/2017
Festival

Camden Rocks Festival is due to take place on the 3rd of June and this year it promises to be bigger and better than ever. The one day festival is staged in twenty-five different venues across North London’s Camden area. Blackstar will be providing equipment to be used in many of the iconic venues including the Electric Ballroom, Koko, and The Monarch. Blackstar artists will also be there in force this year with bands such as The Professionals, The King Blues, Fizzy Blood, Losers, The Soap Girls and many more. For more information on the festival visit http://camdenrocksfestival.com

Yellow Arch Studios

04/05/2017
Company

Since opening, Yellow Arch has been operating successfully as a recording studio, equipment hire, teaching studio, band rehearsal facility and occasional party venue. It has established a great reputation as a key player in the music industry, both in Sheffield and further afield. Most famously known as the birthplace of Arctic Monkeys, the studio has produced albums by a diverse number of artists including Richard Hawley, Kylie Minogue, Jarvis Cocker and Duane Eddy. Blackstar is very proud to be the official amp sponsors of Yellow Arch Studios and there is now an array of Blackstar amps in their rehearsal rooms, studio and in the live venue. So get down to Yellow Arch and check out their superb facilities and Blackstar amps.

Smoked & Uncut Festival

28/04/2017
Company, Festival

The Smoked & Uncut festivals will be taking place this summer with nine festival dates held between June and September, across The Pig and Lime Wood hotels. Set to an eclectic soundtrack, two stages will play host to a line up including the Noisettes, The Blockheads, Ward Thomas, Dr Feelgood and many more. Blackstar will be providing amps for all the festival dates and with a relaxed atmosphere, great music, a passion for great food and all within the New Forest setting the festivals promise to be a highlight of the summer. In conjunction with Smoked & Uncut, Blackstar will be giving away two tickets to a festival of your choice along with a Fly3 amp. Keep an eye on Blackstar’s Facebook page for your chance to win.

Mike Peters - The Alarm - Facebook Takeover

26/04/2017
Artist

Mike Peters from The Alarm will be live on Blackstar’s Facebook page this Friday the 28th at 7.30pm (GMT). Mike will be performing a few songs, answering questions and talking about their upcoming UK and US tour plus the Vans Warped Tour. Also, from 11pm (GMT) Mike will be taking over Blackstar’s Facebook live from Looney Tunes Records in Babylon, New York to celebrate the release of their rare Record Store Day indie exclusive vinyl soundtrack to the documentary film “Man in the Camo Jacket”. Members of the Love Hope Strength organisation will be on hand doing swabs checking for eligibility for bone marrow donors. It’s a completely voluntary swap and a wonderful organisation. For more information on Mike Peters and the Love Hope Strength Foundation visit http://thealarm.com

Fizzy Blood

21/04/2017
Artist

Explosive and guttural, Fizzy Blood are aptly named and causing a stir. Releasing their debut EP ‘Feast” in 2015 to widespread praise the band followed this with a formidable live run of shows including support slots with Allusondrugs, The Virginmarys and The Dead Kennedys. They are about to take 2017 by storm and guitarist Benji Inkley and Paul Howells recently visited Blackstar HQ to try a range of amps and will be using an Artisan 30 and a HT Club 50 rig on their upcoming nineteen date run as support to While She Sleeps. This summer will also see Fizzy Blood kick off a hefty festival schedule which will include Camden Rocks, Download, 2000 Trees and Tramlines with more to be announced. The band is also working on their next release which is due later this year so watch this space as Fizzy Blood, powered by Blackstar amps, are set to make one hell of a dent on the UK music scene.

Gutterdammerung - London Palladium

18/04/2017
Artist

Gutterdammerung, the rock ’n’ roll/film/gig concept from the mind of visual artist Bjorn Tagemose is taking place at the Palladium Theatre in London next week for what will be the first UK appearance of the show this year. Gutterdammerung is part rock show part immersive cinema experience featuring some of the biggest rock names on the planet including Iggy Pop, Grace Jones, Henry Rollins, Lemmy, Joshua Homme and Slash. It is known as the loudest silent movie on earth. Thanks to music director Kevin Armstrong (Iggy Pop’s guitarist) who is a longterm Blackstar endorsee, Gutterdammerung is powered by Blackstar amps. Both guitarist Kevin and Chris Jones are using Series One 1046L6 rigs. For more information visit http://gutterdammerung.com

Venom Prison Interview

12/04/2017
Artist

Renowned as Britain’s best young death metal band Venom Prison released their debut album, Animus, last year to rave reviews and with a live show to match it has seen the band nominated for the Best New Band award at this years Metal Hammer Golden God awards. We caught up with guitarist Ash Gray to discuss the Blackstar gear used by the band, the making of the album, touring and plans for the future.

Where did it all begin for Venom Prison?
We were all in bands previous to Venom Prison but those bands either broke up or members left their previous band. Myself (Ash) and Larissa got talking about how we’ve always played in hardcore bands and how it would be new and a different approach for us to try and create a metal band, so I started demoing material and spoke to the other members of Venom Prison to see if they’d be down for joining.

You released your debut album, Animus, last year. Can you give us some details on the recording process?
We recorded the album at Vagrant Recordings in Southport with Tom Dring who we instantly clicked with. The album took 6 days in total for tracking. We slept in the studio and started at 9am and would finish up at 4am some days then repeat. When the cabin fever kicks in you really start losing your mind. Personally I feel that’s what adds to the emotion you put into a record, sometimes the most creative things you think of are at the times when your brain can’t even compute but something in your thought process spews out some insanity you would have never of thought of before.

Any plans for the next album?
We have already started writing for our next record, you can’t really sit on an album thinking “oh I’ll write another one when I have to” if you don’t have a constant flow of writing you won’t improve yourself and keep that consistency and progression in your writing. I’m always hungry to write more songs as it is, I’m not saying that’s how it works for everyone but for myself personally this works.

How does the writing process work within the band?
The band gets together with a bunch of ideas, even if it’s a drum pattern to help start a guitar idea or vice versa. We then demo it in a home studio where we can take a step back and listen to what we’ve created. Once we are happy with it, we will go into a room and practice it live then back to the home studio to tweak certain parts. This process pretty much goes back and forth till we are satisfied with what we have.

Do you feel more at home in the studio or on the stage?
I can’t really compare them as I have a strong liking towards both, they both offer different experiences. Studio you watch what you have created get built up section by section until you see the final results which are an unexplainable feeling. The stage you get to show that off but thirty times louder to people that already like the music you’ve released or new people discovering the band. They both go hand in hand.

What Blackstar equipment are you currently using?
I and Ben (Thomas) are using the Blackstar HT-Metal and the HT Metal 412 guitar cabinets.

What made you switch to Blackstar?
We had the pleasure of visiting Blackstar in Northampton for a day to test out equipment, I tried a bunch of heads that I really liked however once I plugged into the HT-Metal 100 I knew this machine would be perfect for the sound Venom Prison needs. I’ve been searching for an amp that can give me the low-end resonance but maintain note definition and clarity, having the two HT-Metal amplifiers play side by side live really cuts through the mix and complements each other perfectly. I haven’t really found a balance as good as this with another amplifier till now.

How was the recent tour with Suicide Silence?
The tour was a success for Venom Prison, we took the tour completely oblivious to how it would be for the band. It was an opportunity to play to a crowd that probably have never heard of the band, the response to the shows and compliments online were positive.

It was your first tour using Blackstar, how did you find the gear on tour?
Great, the Blackstar equipment made the guitar tones sound huge every night. We took out full stack cabinets just to make sure it was loud enough.The gear on tour worked flawlessly every evening and not a single problem arose which is a rare thing to say.

Do you have a favourite country outside of the UK that you enjoy playing the most?
Only being a band for around 2 years now, we haven’t really visited many places twice yet, still discovering what places are the best for the band but generally speaking anywhere in Germany is normally a good show.

Do you have a favourite song to play live?
I can’t really pinpoint one song if I’m honest, they all offer something unique and different throughout the set. Our live set doesn’t have any breaks it’s either song into song or sample then into a song so it feels relentless from start to finish.

What does the future hold for Venom Prison?
This month we leave for our tour with Darkest Hour across UK and Europe, as for Festivals we have Ieper Festival, Void Festival and Download announced. More shows, tours and festivals are to be announced shortly. For recording I can not say a definite date/estimate but we are currently writing and working towards it.

Counterfeit European Tour '17

10/04/2017
Artist

Counterfeit are in the middle of their European tour and will hit the UK this week. The tour will see the band play twenty eight shows across Europe including ten dates in the UK. The tour is in support of their debut album, Together We Are Stronger which was released on March 17th to rave reviews. All three guitarist in the band use Series One 1046L6 stacks. For more information on the band, the tour and their debut album visit http://therealcounterfeit.com

Ritual Festival 2017

05/04/2017
Festival

Ritual Festival takes place this weekend in Leeds. The one day, two staged event focuses on the heavier doom/death metal and roughly eighteen to twenty acts will perform throughout the day. Longterm Blackstar endorsee Ihsahn will be headlining the event and along with his guitarist they will be using their Series one stacks. Blackstar will also be providing amps for both stages at the festival. For more information on the festival visit http://www.ritualfest.co.uk/

Hawthorne Heights World Tour 2017

28/03/2017
Company, Artist

Blackstar Amplification has announced a new partnership with American post-hardcore band Hawthorne Heights. This Dayton, Ohio band will be one of the Headlining bands on the upcoming Warped Tour ‘17, a rock festival already supported by Blackstar, and officially using Blackstar’s HT Venue Amps during their world tour.

“We feel Hawthorne Heights hits its stride with an edgy, creative modern punk pop sound that fits the mindset of the Blackstar brand,” shared Loren Molinare, Blackstar’s US Product Manager. “They have a good rep of being an innovative, hardworking, talented band. We are proud to support them at Play Warped 17 and their world tour,” added Molinare.

"I'm excited to bring the great cleans and amazing crunch tones of Blackstar’s HT Stage 100 on the road with us. Blackstar’s rugged and road-ready HT Venue amps have everything I need for both live and in the studio with Hawthorne Heights. I love the ISF control feature. It offers an amazing amount of versatility in a single head," shared Mark McMillon, Lead Guitar and Vocals for Hawthorne Heights.

The Basement Sessions

28/03/2017
Company

Four times a year Blackstar invite some of their most talented artists to perform in our recording studio called ‘The Basement’. These live sessions are recorded in front of a small, passionate crowd and have resulted in the Basement Sessions, an exciting live music show posted on both our YouTube and Facebook page for the world to enjoy. We have been lucky enough to be graced by the presence of such talent as Jared James Nichols, Dead Sea Skulls, Marcus Bonfanti and Emp!re. With plenty more Basement Sessions in the pipeline we look forward to bringing you the peak in live music. To check out some of The Basement Sessions visit our YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/user/Blackstaramps

Company Info

At Blackstar, we are all musicians and understand the importance of great tone, whether practicing at home or on stage in a live environment. All of our products are designed to be world class in both quality and tonal performance while giving you the guitarist the tools you need to find 'the sound in your head'. Read More